June in Germany, Benelux and England

1st June- Andrew's Birthday

Andrew's gifts were all alcohol related….which happened quite independently (says a lot doesn’t it?) !! Andrew’s birthday was celebrated firstly with ice-cream in Gengenbach (at 11.30am-which is even too early for me (J) to have one), shopping in the supermarket (very cheap in REWE, and excellent quality). Beer is sold by the crate full (see photo) and there is so much choice Andrew was stuck. He settled for 2 bottles (yes, amazingly, only 2!), whilst the other shoppers stacked crates onto their trolley. Apparently the annual beer consumption in Germany, per head, is 300 litres! It’s no wonder the supermarkets are so well stocked. Barbara called round with a bottle of wine and played ‘Happy Birthday’ for Andrew on the organ (we could hear it through the floor).

Finally sorted out the car (we hope). They’ve finally decided they can’t get hold of the light cluster so the garage has ‘fixed’ the damaged lights and the car is apparently ready for us. We’ve had to order the lights at the garage in Burnley and booked the car in for when we return. The part is a 3 week order from japan, so it’s no wonder Nissan France was struggling. Just wish we’d known about this earlier and had the temporary fix done weeks ago! As it stands we’ve cancelled next weeks accommodation, so that we can head back down to France to get the car. We were a bit fed up the other night, so decided to splash out and booked to go to Europa Park (Germany’s biggest theme park) on a 2day/1 night package. Cost €408 for us all, but the hotel looks great (themed rooms). Breaks the budget for this week in 1 day, but so what!! We’ve got Saturday in Strasbourg (bargain budget hotel for £25 for a family room), back to Germany for Monday (in Freiburg) and then we’ve booked a tent in a French campsite for the rest of next week. Back on track then as originally planned (hopefully).

It’s been great having WiFi access here, and the girls have had a chance to MSN their friends. Even my Mum has got with it!! We’re all up to date with the diary and photos (1st time ever), and e-mails to friends. Not sure when we’ll update next! 

2nd June- Obernai

We left Barbara and Erwin this morning and headed off for Ostwald, just outside Strasbourg to our amazing bargain 'Mister Bed' hotel for a grand price of £25 for a quad room. we could have the room after 1pm, but when we got there the automated reception machine wouldn't take our card and we couldn't get the key until 5pm. Andrew was less then happy with the standard of the hotel (what did he expect for £25?) so we set off for a drive to Obernai....we only chose this because it was underlined on our map as an interesting place. we planned to have a wander and head back to the hotel later on. However, when we got there, the small town was so beautiful we decided to find a hotel there for the night instead. Got a nice room for 70 Euros right in the centre. Quite coincidentally, the town is twinned with Gengenbach, and has similar styled houses. The Alsace looks a lovely place to stay, so its a pity we won't be here long. Looking forward to a night on the town tonight!!

And we have free WiFi too....not sure how, or whose paying!! 

Europa Park- Day 1 

We were up and out with the larks this morning: on the road for 7.45am. Not been up that early for ages! Our plan was to get to the Hotel Colosseo at Europa Park for 8.15am so that we could be checked in, and on the first rides by 8.30am (1/2 an hour before the park opens for non-residents). We were only a little way of schedule, and were on the first ride by 8.45am, and had rattled off three of the smaller rides by 9.05! This is the first major theme park in which Madi will be big enough to go on anything she wants…good job she had her Heelys on with thick soles though!  Europa Park is Germany’s biggest theme park and recently came out top in the ‘Times’ European Theme Park list for 2007, even beating EuroDisney, scoring 9/10. It is set out into different areas by European countries, each themed down to the last detail: very impressive. We went on nearly every ride in the whole park (except for the little kiddie ones, of course), with only a few leftover for tomorrow. Our favourite rides, out of the many there, (www.europapark.de), were:  Madi: EuroSat; a roller coaster in the dark inside a large dome. Elena: Silver Star; the biggest roller coaster in the park which has a rapid 73m drop and whizzes along at 80mph (see video) Jane: EuroMir, another roller coaster, which spirals up inside one of 5 steel towers, takes you outside and winds around the other towers (the cars turn as well), before it brings you back down to the ground on a series of steep drops (some of the cars end up going backwards on this bit). (see video) Andrew: Poseidon, which is part roller coaster and part water ride. Very fast and very wet! 

 The park was relatively quiet at this time of year, which meant we just walked on and off rides (even the most popular ones) as many times as we wanted. This might have been my downfall, because by 5pm my neck was killing (from the roller coasters) which resulted in a whopping headache. I ended up in bed for the rest of the night, missed our buffet dinner (paid for!!), and missed all the entertainment in the Piazza Roma. Andrew and the girls had a good time though. The girls joined the rest of the kids running through the ‘Anfiteatro dell’acqua’, a fountain area with many water jets in the floor. Later on in the evening, the kids were shooed off the fountain for a multi-media water show, apparently unique in Europe for its state-of-the-art technology.  

The Hotel Colosseo is built in an Italian style, and everything is themed, from the corridors and halls to all the bedrooms. There’s even a section of the Colosseum! Our room (see photo) overlooked the Piazza Roma and the ‘Colosseum’. It wasn’t cheap, but it felt very nice to be in such fabulous surroundings, and definitely made the theme park visit extra special.  

Europa Park- Day 2

We ate a lovely buffet breakfast in one of the hotel restaurants this morning. The kids dodged the ‘Euromaus’, the park’s mascot, who came around for hugs and photos. Elena said she was trying to look tall, so that it didn’t notice her! We reminded her that last time she went to a character meal (in Florida when she was 4), she spent the entire meal clinging to either Winnie the Pooh, Tigger or Piglet. Bit different now she’s grown-up! I was feeling much better and ready to hit the park again (without the roller coasters for me this time). Before that though, we had a swim in the heated outdoor pool, and the girls showed me around the rest of the hotel, since I’d missed everything last night.

The park was still relatively quiet so we managed another day full of rides. We finished off the rest of the rides, Atlantic Splash being a favourite wet one. Madi and Elena went back on their favourite rides with Andrew, and we watched a show (not quite up to Disney standards, but quite entertaining for a man who blows bubbles). The day came to a slightly early finish at around 3ish (again!!), this time due to an injury to Elena. Whilst on the Silver Star, she got hit in the wrist by something (we’re not sure if it was a solid object or an insect). It swelled up and knocked her quite dizzy and sick. Bearing in mind she was travelling at 80mph, it must have hurt whatever it was. We sat around for a while but she’d had enough (we were all tired in truth) so we called it a day and headed off to our next Hotel, in Nimburg, just north of Freiburg (much cheaper than the Colosseo!!).

The Hotel Langasthof Rebstock (www.rebstock-bottingen.de) is only about 20min away from Europa Park and was really lovely. We had a great meal, very reasonably priced, and free WiFi access. For future reference the hotel also does ‘Europa Park deals’, which seemed really reasonable, and would definitely be worth investigating for any future visits.
 

5th June-Getting the car back!

We headed back to Nantua this morning to finally get back our car. It took us 5 hours to get there, so it was 3pm by the time we pulled into the garage. We were a bit surprised at the ‘repair’ effort on the light cluster. They’d basically just put the broken one straight back in, making sure the lights worked. Consequently, all of the lights are white since the coloured plastic is now missing. It’ll have to do, and we’re just glad to have it back. By the time we’d got all our gear back into our car, drove to Bourg-en-Bresse to drop the hire car off (they initially refused to take the car back, as we’d hired it from a different Avis centre. It took a few phone calls to sort it out!), and driven to find our camp site (back in France again) it was 7pm. 

We’d booked a ready-erected tent for the 4 nights, but were pleased when we were offered a mobile home for the same money (with toilet and shower, instead of the camp ‘block’). Later in the evening we had a walk down the river to the point where there is a small waterfall and watched the Little Egrets and two Night Herons (never seen one of these before) fishing in the rapids. We tried to get a picture, but failed because of the low light, lack of tripod, and the fact that it was at the other side of the river…we’ll try again another night! 

6th June- Camping Les Bords de la Loue

Had a chance to explore the site today. Our caravan is in a lovely spot, overlooking a river, and near to the pool and playground. The site is almost entirely full of Dutch people and is apparently very popular for the Dutch. We spent the day lazing around, bit of school, swimming in the pool, and generally chilling out. 

7th June- School and cooking

Now we have the car back, we’re back to familiar activities: garlic crushing, crock-potting and schooling. The kids spent the afternoon in the pool (it’s been really warm here for the last few days, +25ºC at least), and we finally managed a half recognisable photo of the Night Heron. It has appeared every night between 8.30 and 9.00pm so we were ready for it. It’s not the best shot, but given the circumstances, we didn’t do so bad. 

8th June- Sun, swimming and wildlife

We took advantage of the great French weather today, nearly 30º C, not a cloud in the sky and no breeze to take the edge off. The kids loved it, they would be happy never going on a day out as long as there was a pool near by. A bonus too, was having the car back with goggles, snorkels, underwater cameras and a range of poolside distractions to help us while the afternoon away. This was also very cheap and gave my wallet a chance to cool off after it went ballistic in Europa-Park over the last few days.

The only activity to interrupt swimming was the need to nip to a super market and pick up supplies, the kids begrudgingly agreed (Although if they didn’t they would not eat) and we softened the blow by popping into a local park with wildlife section to look at a number of deer roaming about.

The wildlife theme continued when one of camp site maintenance chaps pointed out that there were Great Tits nesting in the electric meter box outside our caravan. We actually already knew this; we’d been watching the adults flying in and out with food all day. He then proceeded to open up the meter box (very carefully, he obviously does this every day to check on the nest) to allow us to look inside at the nest and scrawny chicks. The kids were delighted; Jane and I were a little perturbed as we thought you weren’t supposed to meddle with nests etc although Elena and I did both manage to take a few pictures for our records. AS
 

9th June- Moving on to Luxembourg and 'real' camping

It’s off to Luxembourg today for a spot of camping in our own tent. The kids were really disappointed last week when we opted for the luxury of a caravan instead of a tent, but I’m still not sure I’ll like camping. The girls and Andrew have spent 2 nights in the tent before with Simon and Co. on Anglesey, but I don’t think that quite puts them into the realms of proper campers just yet! Apparently when you go camping (according to the girls), you don’t need to have a wash or clean teeth, and you have to eat pot noodles a lot! Needless, to say, my version of camping isn’t this! Our camp site is in the north of Luxembourg at Heiderscheid (www.fuussekaul.lu) and is quite a large site, with touring pitches and privately owned permanent cabins. It has a restaurant, small supermarket, burger place, indoor play area (excellent, according to the girls), pools (closed whilst we were there), mini golf, bowling alley, playgrounds, and loads of washing facilities. We’d already pre-booked a pitch and one had been allocated to us, although we could change it if we didn’t like it. When we went to view it, it was really water-logged and my heart sank. I walked around the rest of the site and spotted a really nice (dry) pitch (580), so we moved to it pronto! Bearing in mind Andrew has only put up the tent once ‘in the field’ (and Simon helped a lot) and I’ve never done it, we managed to get sorted in about an hour. With electrical hook-up, we were sat having a brew in no time!

10th June- Techno camping v Garbage rummaging
Two extremes to our camping.

Firstly, there’s Andrews techno-camping… laptop, phone, DVD players, ipods, Nintendos. It’s hardly roughing it!! See the photo…HE’S STILL ON THE PHONE!!!!

Then there’s my activities, which really lowered the tone… rubbish bin rummaging! We’d gone to the recycling bins to get rid of our glass stuff and there, right on the top…12 lovely glass plates, and loads of drinking glasses. I quickly took 6 of them, and a couple of glasses too (Andrew’s face was a picture… ‘how are we going to transport those?’ he asked (you can imagine the tone for yourselves). The girls were horrified at first, but then got into the spirit of recycling and were after going back for more! I half imagine I’ll be getting ‘something’ glass for my birthday present!

 11th June- Luxembourg city

We caught the bus to Ettelbruck, which is a small town about 15min ride away, in order to get the train into Luxembourg City. We’d bought the visitors card, which cost €20, and covers the cost of all transport (it would have cost that much for the transport anyway) and in addition we get free entry (or discounts) into loads of places in the area. Unfortunately we only had my camera with us today, and I didn’t know my battery was flat…not a single photo to remember Luxembourg by!!

Luxembourg City was built on a rocky outcrop called the ‘Bock’ and over the years it was made almost impregnable by a series of ring battlements, forts and also 23km of underground workings. To get into the city now, you have to travel over one of 5 enormous viaducts, but there are 95 bridges in all, as it’s a city set upon different levels. When the country (which is a Grand Duchy) was demilitarized in the early 19th century, the fortress was dismantled and the great walls were dynamited in an effort to destroy them. They didn’t manage to do this completely, and abandoned their efforts as parts of the city were also being destroyed. The underground tunnels, called casements, were sealed off, but 17kms of them remain. We had a walk through them (free with our card), and they are really amazing. During the World Wars about 35,000 people used them as shelters during air raids. Other sites we saw on our walking tour:
• The obelisk ‘Gëlle Fra’, the Golden Woman, which is 12m high pyramid with a golden statue of the Goddess of Victory on top. It commemorates soldiers who fell in wars fought by Luxembourg.
• Grand-Ducal palace, which was absolutely magnificent
• Marche aux Poissons which houses one of the oldest buildings inscribed with the Luxembourg motto ‘Mir Wölle bleiwe wat mir sin’. I still have no idea what it means!
• Bronze statue of the Grand Duchess Charlotte who died in 1985. She was apparently very popular and the statue is inscribed with the words ‘Mir hun lech gaër’, which means ‘we love you’.
• Monument National de Solidarité, which has an eternal flame burning outside

There was much more to see, but we ran out of time. It’s certainly a lovely city, and we’d both like to return sometime for another look around (without the kids possibly!!).
 

12th June- Drive to Grimbergen, Belgium

Part 2 of our camping week, this time in Belgium. We drove to Belgium via Bastogne, which has a tank set in the centre to commemorate all who died to liberate Bastogne and Belgium. It has a huge hole in the back where it was knocked out in December 1944 (see photo). Grimbergen is just on the outskirts of Brussels so we had to drive on the motorway that encircles Brussels. What a nightmare! The Belgiums are now top of our ‘Crazy European Drivers’ list. They drive very fast, very close and do loads of crazy lane switches without much notice. We’ve never seen roads like it!! (I later read the guide book which almost said the same thing…apparently the Belgiums are renowned for their bad driving and have one of the highest accident rates in Europe…GREAT!)

We arrived safely at Grimbergen to our camp site (www.eurocampings.co.uk/en/europe/belgium/vlaams-brabant/camping-grimbergen-100013) and booked in. Our camping guide gave this more stars than the Luxembourg site so we had high expectations. First off, ‘friendly welcome’…not a chance. The owner (who had been doing this job for 26 years, he told us frequently), was very scary and stern. He told us in no uncertain terms that the he liked a quiet site, and the children had best not be noisy especially in his new beautiful toilet/shower block. We had walked around the site before booking in so chose our pitch carefully. As it happened we were no-where near anybody else (who’s average age was 60+). I’m sure the welcome for older people will be ‘friendly’ but I’m considering writing to the camping guide to add a warning for families!!

We had a record tent-erecting time and were sat, eating tea, in no time. The weather is being kind also, so camping is great!! 

13th June- Provincial Park at Kassel-Lo

 This park was in the Belgium guide brochure and as it was free, we thought it worth a visit…adventure play ground, boating lake, traffic park and other attractions! The weather was glorious, so we took swimming gear as well for the outdoor water playground. The park proved to be a great facility; the playground was enormous with loads of climbing for bigger kids. The electric boats were only €1.5 for 15mins. The outdoor swimming pool cost €9 for us all for all day….definitely a bargain. 

14th June- Birthday girl in Brussels

My birthday today (Jane) and we’d planned to visit Brussels, after my Birthday breakfast (see movie). We caught the bus into the Nord Gare, and walked into the centre, stopping at a Chinese restaurant for the cheap ‘Plat du Jour’ at €5/head. Nice meal.

The heavens opened at 3pm, flooding the streets, so we caught a taxi back to the bus station and headed off to the campsite, praying we’d but the tent up OK! We only had a little raining in at the entrance, and it continued to rain until late into the evening. A lone cyclist arrived next to us just as we were making our tea, and he had to put his tent up in the rain. Andrew took him a brew out and he came in for a chat. He was a Berliner called Stefan, who had cycled from Berlin, to Amsterdam, and then to here. He was heading for Luxembourg city and the Paris before heading back to Berlin. Quite a trek on a bike!!

15th June- School day in Belgium
After yesterday's thunder storm (which we survived!) the weather looked ominous today so we decided to stay around camp and catch up on some school work. We were down to our last €6 also, which was, of course, the deciding factor! Stefan cycled off to Brussels and we sat down to draw maps of the world, naming continents and matching European countries with their capitals. Quite a fun day despite the education part. By 11pm, Stefan still hadn’t landed back from Brussels and the girls were quite concerned. He finally turned up a short while later, having had problems with his bike. Andrew promised to dig out the hammer in the morning so that Stefan could bash his cycle back into operation! 

16th June- arriving at Disneyland

So, we leave camping for now, having enjoyed it immensely, and vowing to do more of the same in Scandinavia. I particularly enjoyed it…I loved being outdoors and it really makes you slow the pace down a notch or two…although I’m looking forward to a bed again!

The kids were excited as we set off this morning, they’d been looking forward to Disney the whole trip. We met the owner, Jean, outside Disney and then followed him to the apartment, which was 5mins away. It’s a second storey apartment in a new complex, and from our balcony we can see Disney. It’s one-bedroomed, with a double and bunks in the bedroom, but there’s an extra bed settee in the lounge. Open-plan lounge kitchen dining, very clean, here’s the link, and only 5min walk from the train station into Paris or Disney. I’d say it is a great place for anyone who’s planning to visit here, and it’s the cheapest thing I could find!! We’re also tapping into someone’s unsecured wireless internet, but the signal is very weak and we lose it a lot. Here’s the link www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/france/holiday-apartment-seine-et-marne/p65832. There’s also a huge shopping complex around the corner called Val d’Europe, which we’re trying to steer Madi away from! 

17th June- Disneyland Day 1

 We were going to buy a 3-day pass to last us this holiday, but it was the same price to get an annual pass, which also gets us free parking and discounts in shops and restaurants….Yippee…..we can come back when ever we want (yes, Andrew, that’s a good thing!). Madeleine has been banned from buying any gifts (she can look for now) until she’s seen everything that is on offer. We’re just praying she settles on something small, and non-breakable, but you know what a shopaholic she is!!

We headed for Space Mountain, as we knew it was closing Mon-Wed for maintenance. It had been shut when we were in Florida so it was a first for us all! It was a great roller coaster and the girls loved it! We did the Star Wars simulation ride, Honey I shrunk the audience, the Lion King show, Indiana Jones roller coaster (kids very impressed), Snow White (kids not impressed). We also queued up to go on the newest attraction, Pirates of the Caribbean ride. This ride has been hyped up and we’ve read reviews online saying how amazing it is and how it’s better than the Florida version as well as being the best ride ever. Well how disappointed we were! Whilst the staging, models and setting are technically very good the ride just didn’t have any thrills or surprises. There were two small drops, a tiny splash (although the signs at the entrance warned us we may get wet) but no excitement or thrill. For those that have visited Disney and experienced the tedium of “it’s a small world” you will understand the comparison as it was a grown up version of this. It was a slow meander in a boat, with dim lights and animated models in various pirate activities like sword fighting, boozing, chasing wenches and the odd sinking galleon thrown in. As I said, very good effects but I’m afraid that the description of “action packed voyage through a pirate attack” slightly overrated it on the excitement scale for the Eurosullys. Sorry Walt Disney, it was chronic!!! Not worth the 1 hour queue and we won’t go back on unless there is no queue and even then it will only be to get out of the rain! (which came down in bucket fulls at about 4pm…by 5pm we were soaked and cold so called it a day). 

18th June- Walt Disney Studios (10am-6pm)

 The second of the parks today, after first spending an hour trying to get autographs for the girls (which we failed to do). When we got to the Studios we headed for the new ride, ‘Crush’s Coaster’, based on Finding Nemo. We queued for about 40mins then realized we’d about another 1 ½ hours to go so abandoned it, hoping to return later when it was quieter. We finally managed it (still waited an hour though), and it was a good ride, but only just worth the wait! We gave the other ‘new attraction’ a miss (the ‘Cars’ Rally), as although it looking exciting on the posters, it was in fact just teacup waltzers but with cars instead. The 45min wait didn’t inspire us either. Not perturbed we took the Studio Tram Tour, with exploding oil tanker, earthquake and breaking dam. It was very good but didn’t really capture the girls (compared to the roller coasters!) The Aerosmith Rock and Roller coaster was fantastic and with 5min queue times we went on it twice. I know we’re going to do it again (many times) on our next visit as well. Armageddon was OK, and the Motors…Action stunt show was really great. The park shut at 6pm so we went back into DisneyLand to do Buzz Light Year Laser Blast and try to get a few signatures for the girls. We ran into a bit of trouble with the Sheriff Of Nottingham…or rather Andrew did! The character signings are a bit of a nightmare in these parks. Although the characters are chaperoned, the chaperones do little to control the swarms of kids (and their pushy parents) who stick their autograph books in the characters faces, pushing in front of anyone in their way. The sheriff was a classic. In character, he was a little grumpy, but signed Madi’s book. Elena was waiting patiently for her turn, but someone pushed in front of her, then the sheriff ignored her several times. Andrew got fed up with this, so took it upon himself to help her get ‘seen’. He poked the sheriff, pointed to Elena’s book and indicated to him he wanted the book signing. The sheriff duly did this, but then shoved his long nose against Andrew’s nose in an aggressive manner…to which end Andrew bit it!!! The chaperone was none to pleased so we bid a hasty retreat!! 

19th June- Disneyland 1pm-8pm

 A lie-in this morning to set us up for day 3 in Disney. It’s Tuesday today, and according to our guide book, should be the quietest day of the week…which it did seem to be. We headed for Frontierland to do ‘Thunder Mountain’, which was great, and then saw the ‘Tarzan’ show. Because of our later start today, it was suddenly nearing 4pm so we headed to get a good spot for the big parade. We waited 30min, right at the front, only getting mildly irritated at the people who thought they could turn up at 3.59 and barge right in front of us. Talk about having to stand your ground! The parade was suitably lavish, as expected, but we were very hot by this stage, so headed to watch the ‘Lion King’ again to have a break. After that, time for an all-you-can-eat buffet in a Disney restaurant, then back on the streets of FantasyLand. Caught a few more characters on the way, including Peter Pan (who was English). He asked us where we were from, so being polite I asked him back. Of course, he said ‘Neverland’, but I misheard and thought he said Netherland….needless to say my ‘Danku wel’ fell on deaf ears!

We made the kids go on ‘It’s a small world’, much to their disgust (especially Elena), as it has to be the cheesiest ride Disney do! It didn’t disappoint, but we headed back to Adventureland then to give the girls a roller coaster-fix. Little did we realize that the park closed at 8pm on weekdays, not 9pm as we’d thought….A full-coaster day tomorrow then!! We’ve ditched the idea of going into Paris city because we’re too knackered to give it our best. We’re going to save it until later in the trip and make sure we are refreshed before tackling it.

There have been several comments (Alison) regarding Andrew’s hair style….check out the photo… he’s been growing it since we’ve been away and wants to know if this hair style is OK for the wedding…haven’t decided on his outfit yet, but we think this style will go well with the ‘tropical’ look he’s planning!!!

20th June- Disneyland 11am 'til we drop

Our fourth and final day in Disney. Thank God! Call me (Andrew) grumpy, as many people do, but I can’t truly “get into” the whole Mickey Mouse thing. I’m still bemused at grown women, and sometimes men, “whoopeeing” and poncing about in fluffy mouse ears. I’m even less impressed by the continual disregard for other people and how adults are prepared to run, dash, bump, push, shove, trample and do absolutely anything to other people, including small kids, to be first in the queue to get the autograph of some French drama student being paid 2 and 6 an hour to wear a fluffy winnie the pooh suit!!!!! It’s all true, every last rant of it. After four days in Disney, I’m not so much Disneyed out as irate with other people. For me today was about “protecting what’s mine”. In all queues I stood with a look on my face that said push in if you dare, those that dared were rewarded with shoulders, elbows or a rucksack in their body and not once did we (I) yield to the obvious and devious attempts of women, children and men of all ages to take advantage of my (our British) good nature.

We rode all of our favourite rides again, mainly the big roller coasters and were lucky to find that most of them had little if any queues. (But still people wanted to barge and push) The girls (all three of them) were laughing and joking all day, even I managed a grin or two once I was happy that all possible avenues of attack had been defended!

As the PA system announced that the park was closing we moved off towards the exit and the long walk to the car park, the sound of Lion King and Snow White songs coming from speakers. Everyone was happy but ready to leave maybe to return another day. We have promised the kids we will return tomorrow, only for a couple of hours and only to pick up an odd souvenir. Other than that I can safely say I won’t be returning for another year. (The kids seem to be planning visits much sooner, all three of them)

Although I’ve gone on a bit I don’t want you to get the wrong impression; I can be nice and accommodating. As we got back to the car a man was pushing his VW Passat past our parking space with a little assistance form another. They asked for help and……..my first thought was to “sorry, English, Je ne comprends pas”, but…………….the sprinkle of fairy dust that landed on my shoulder in FantasyLand had me reach for my jump leads, connect them to my battery and his and fire his little German saloon into life…just like Tinkerbell……………….The Disney Magic……………………….

Anyway, Jane just told me I’m weird????? I like to think that I am just a realist.(AS)
 

21st June- Early morning update...last one before UK visit. 

So, we’ve covered about five and a half thousand miles now in nearly four months including six countries and 3 capitals. We’ve had one road accident as well as a few near misses, lost a frying pan and a spatula, gained a pair of black frilly M&S knickers, accumulated numerous cuddly toys and “recycled” a range of ornate glass crockery. We’ve all got longer hair, including me (Who at this time also has a beard”) but most importantly we (or I that is) haven’t strangled anybody. We’ve got on great. 

26th June-9th July- Catching up at home and Ali and Dave's Wedding

It's been a busy 2 weeks, catching up with friends and family (although everyone knows what we’ve been up to because of the blog). Elena went on the school 5-day trip to North Wales and had a great time. Madi went back into school for 3 days and slotted right back in. Ali and Dave’s wedding went without a hitch and we all had a lovely day. The bride looked beautiful, the groom, dashing. Will and Sam looked really smart in their suits and Elena and Madi looked lovely as bridesmaids. The civil service was really nice and relaxed and despite their nerves, the girls performed their parts perfectly (Elena sang Charlotte Church’s ‘It’s the heart that matters most’, and Madi read a poem that Ali had chosen). The best man’s speech was excellent, really funny and subtlety rude, Dad and Dave’s speeches were great, and the food was very good. Ali and Dave jetted off to Las Vegas the day after for 10 days in the baking desert, leaving us all in rainy England.

Speaking of rain, it hasn’t stopped the whole time we’ve been back. It’s rained so much over the whole of England that there have been many floods and the water shows no sign of going. This prompted us to revise our plans a little (which involved spending loads of money, as usual!). We’d decided that we enjoyed the freedom of camping life rather than pre-booked accommodation, so for the next leg we’d planned to just turn up in Norway, with the tent, and move from camp to camp as we pleased. The rain in England, and the fact that it rains about 300 days a year in Norway, reminded us that tenting, long-term, might not be the best idea ever. We spent an afternoon at Barrons, looking at caravans, and the more we thought about it, the better the idea of being ‘caravanners’ seemed. I’m not sure why we didn’t think of this before we set off the first time! Although we’ve had really reasonably priced accommodation during our first four months, it hasn’t been as cheap as camping, and nowhere near as flexible. If we hadn’t pre-booked and paid for houses during June, the car crash and the prolonged repair job wouldn’t have been so much hard work. A caravan is the perfect solution!

After the decision was made, we then spent several hours researching everything we needed to know about touring in Europe. It seemed straight forward enough, and the biggest problem was finding comprehensive caravan insurance for eight continuous months abroad. Although some companies offer this length of cover it seems to be only in blocks of 90 days, with a return to England being necessary in between. The Caravan Club came through in the end, increasing their usual 6 months continuous cover to eight months, saving us a big headache. We checked with the AA with regards to our existing recovery policy and discovered we were already covered, providing the caravan is less than 7m for repatriation purposes. Next…. find a caravan!

There are so many different caravan layouts to choose from, given the time we had (2days), finding the perfect one for our journey seemed a daunting task. We eventually found a two year-old 5 berth Lunar Chateau 500 at Barrons, with fixed bunks at the back, a small dinette and a dining area that makes up as a double bed. We liked the idea of keeping the bunks made up all the time for the girls, and if we wanted to keep ours made up as a bed we still had a dining area, albeit small. It also gives us two table areas, which will be handy for the four of us. Loads of storage, so I’ve packed loads! 

Everyone tells us it is expensive in Norway, so we’ve packed loads of dry foods, pasta, rice, biscuits etc, and loads of curry (it’s been difficult to find decent curry so far). We wanted an awning for when we have longer stays on sites, and were a bit surprised at how expensive they were (£300-400 second hand), and also how much space they take up. The guy at Barrons showed us the new style awnings, which are made from the light tenting material, and use the same light-weight poles as a tent, so we bought one. At £160 new, it’s a better idea, and we bought a ‘bedroom’ inner as well. The car boot is empty now, so the bikes have gone in there as the bike rack we have is unsuitable when towing. We’ve replaced all our bikes and upgraded them a little so three of them have quick release wheels. These go in the boot in bits, and Madi’s bike goes in the caravan.  

We’re all set!! The ferry has been re-booked for Tuesday 10th July, sailing at 19.30 from Newcastle as there wasn’t room for us + caravan on the original ferry.